Haven’t been here in ages. Came over to see what was going on Within the industry regarding the ICE raids. They’re coming. We know they’re coming what are we going to do about it?
Are we going to do anything to protect these wonderful people who’ve worked so hard for us for decades?
Current Events, the political forum, has been shut down. Not sure where the many voices there went, perhaps one of them will PM you to find their new outlet.
We’ll leave this topic open for now with the caveat that this isn’t a thread for general political debate.
If posters want to discuss how changing policies regarding illegal immigration/undocumented immigrants may affect the horse industry that is certainly within the scope of the site.
If it turns into a general political brawl, we’ll close the thread.
This has to be a HUGE problem for Racing farms and tracks.
Probably for many boarding barns also.
Not looking for a political discussion. What is the industry doing If anything? I’ve been out of it for 20 years, but I’m pretty sure things haven’t changed that much.
Are people losing Really good help? I had so many astounding friends in the aisles. Some truly spectacular Horsemen, who I had great respect for. I know they were undocumented.
I’m afraid for them. I’m certain they’re afraid. What can we do?
I’ve been seeing that in many places, employees are not showing up to agricultural jobs in droves, for fear of ICE showing up at their workplace.
But, there’s not a whole lot of huge barns that employ hundreds of people, are there? So I’d think they’re unlikely to be an initial target. I guess we’ll see in about 6-12 months if horse barns move up the list…
ETA - unless they go to shows, I didn’t even think about that aspect originally
In the past, I’d have advised to help them apply for citizenship.
I saw this done successfully, but it’s a long process.
I don’t know if that is still feasible, given the rapidfire actions currently being implemented.
Not only horse-related businesses, but agriculture & the building industry in this country are going to be impacted.
I think we’re well past that option. I would expect that filing for citizenship would result in a high chance of ICE showing up at their door.
I see that the gov. Programs and employees set up to help immigrants navigate the system have been eliminated or disbanded and no longer funded .
My guess is these horse related employees will go into hiding.
In Florida, they’re being advised to leave the state.
It’s going to get interesting. I’ve mostly boarded at barns that had a strict policy of hiring only people who can work legally in the USA, and they were already having problems finding enough help before T became POTUS again.
I currently board at a backyard place with no hired help. I guess I should be happy about that.
I was just talking to a barn owner yesterday about this. Her two helpers live on the farm and it sounds like they have a plan to scoot if anyone official tries to get through the gate. She only has five boarders and it sounds as though they are all like minded folks so I doubt any of them will be turning in the workers. Especially if they want their horses fed and the stalls cleaned.
I’ve been talking to a few people about this, many remembering the ICE raids at a horse show in Chicago and more recently (within the past 5-10 years) the one at Thermal. I personally know barns that went to Thermal and only took their guys with documents or were going to hire grooms IN Cali. They were too scared to take their help from home anywhere close to the border or through checkpoints (you have to go through one in TX to get to Thermal).
It was disheartening to read a lot of comments on the TPH Thermal group this morning raising questions about this very thing. People in the industry (that likely rely on illegal grooms) were stating they should be legal and wouldn’t have this problem. It was gross. A lot of people also piping in that they’ve tried to get their grooms legal but the process is incredibly expensive and you’re met with a ton of challenges.
But I’ll bring the question here. Is a horse show ground (like DIHP) considered private property with public access or is it public property? Would ICE need a warrant to enter the horse show grounds of somewhere like WEF, DIHP, or even Katy during their winter shows?
I work as a substitute teacher. ICE shouldn’t be allowed in classrooms, either. That’s horrific. I don’t think my school district will let them in without a warrant.
I can only imagine the panic in AG industries. I saw something about only 25% of the citrus pickers showed up to work. That’s not good. We won’t have much in the produce section if this keeps up.
Is it the same story at boarding barns? I don’t think working students can pick up the slack.
That’s an interesting question. Private property should not be subjected to raids unless ICE has a warrant.
We are already seeing ICE raids in my area; we historically have a large hispanic population in the town we live in. We have lots of nurseries and landscaping companies as well as being in horse country.
Most people I know seem to not be doing anything and hoping “their” “illegals” are left alone 
I have been actively been brushing up on my Spanish now for a while and keeping people informed when/where I hear about raids. We’ve had several Mexican restaurants that were raided and people hauled off. A good barn friend is working with her mother who is an attorney to put together resources in case they can help anyone we know.
Buckle up 
The Navajo have been targeted in AZ and NM and some Nation members have been detained. That’s not going to go well. Insults on top of insults.
This might be helpful:
I might be wrong, but shows are generally held either on privately owned properties (host stables), or at public venues - like fairgrounds.
I’d think a warrant would be needed for the first, but not the second.
So. far in Boston they arrested illegals with criminal…records. I did not hear of any farms being affected in my area.
They’re permitted to arrest those without criminal histories as well. It’s the same strategy as 8ish years ago, where noncriminals were also arrested. This “no free pass” approach will probably affect the horse industry- if workers have no shield from arrest regardless of their criminal history, they’re less motivated to show up for work.
People considered public safety and national security threats are still the top priority, Elliston said.
That is no different from the Biden administration, but a big change has already taken hold: Under Trump, officers can now arrest people without legal status if they run across them while looking for migrants targeted for removal. Under Joe Biden, such “collateral arrests” were banned.
(I know it mentioned politicians, ignore that part, I’m just referring to the strategy they’re using)
I think that any industry that based their system off hiring and taking advantage of illegal immigrants is in for an awakening, I also think it’s ironic that people honestly believed that immigration would only come for the “bad” illegals. When ICE raids, if they find non criminal illegals in that raid they deport them too.
I know barns that value the hardworking illegal immigrants they have and help them become legal through the long and difficult process. But I also know there are barns where they have people living in deplorable conditions working long hours for low pay.
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